Gay Summer Rick, City and Sea

Gay Summer Rick’s new series depicts urban habitats vibrating alongside Southern California’s ephemeral coastline. Rick intended to focus on the journey rather than the destination with this body of work. Views from the roadways and walkways traveling from downtown Los Angeles to the beaches of Venice or Malibu take us on an adventure where we are able to enjoy the views along the way. We can observe and relish intimate moments; stopping to enjoy the lights on Broadway in a moment without traffic, or by walking up 6th Street toward the Bridge without the sight or sound of cars.

The dynamic relationship between the two environments of urban habitats and the coastline is heightened by the artist’s choice of using a palette knife instead of a brush. Her distinctive painting style creates an arresting color field in which the city’s sharp edges dissolve into the impressionistic embrace of sand, sea and sky.